Two Equals One
by WhiteFang323
Summary: Acceptance is not a gift. It bears a heavy price, and sometimes, that price is too high for one girl to understand. Shikamaru/OC
1. Not Exactly a Morning Person

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEE-*KERSMASH*!!!!

The alarm clock went through the wall. I removed my hand from the desk and pulled the covers closer around me as I sank into the pillow.

*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*

That….clock……was…..still….alive. Mumbling a few choice swear words under my breath, I hauled my body into a semi-sitting position and licked my dry lips. Today was definently not going to be a good one. I literally rolled out of bed, forgetting that I didn't have nice, soft carpet on the floor and landed on hard-as-rock wood. I winced from the impact, and . This was not my dream way of waking up.

After dressing in my usual black pants and dark green tank top, I wandered over to the next room of my sad, small little house, which just happened to be the kitchen/living room/storage room. Opening the fridge, I grabbed some fruit of some sort and flopped onto the couch. The usual clouds of dust poofed out of it, making me cough. Wondering for not the first time if I was going to get cancer from living here any longer, I glanced over at the clock on the wall. 7:10. Eh, I had 20 minutes to get to the academy before I was late. I stuffed the rest of the unnamed fruit inside my mouth and spit out the seed into the wastebasket. I brushed my waist-length black hair back from my face. My shoes were sitting by the door, so as soon as I strapped on my kunai and shuriken pouches I headed over there to put them on. I grabbed the pair of sunglasses I always wear and shoved them up the bridge of my nose. Opening the door, I made sure that I wasn't forgetting anything, and then slammed the front door.

Note to self: Don't slam the front door to my house. Reason being? The house has a tendency to shake thanks to an unstable foundation. -_- Great. Well, anyway, I headed off to the Academy. First day there, it wouldn't be exactly good to be there late.

"_Good Morning, Araya!!"_

I stifled a groan and rubbed my temple. Ugh…..SHE was awake now.

"_Araya? Why aren't you answering me? Aren't you happy to hear our voice again?"_

"_No, Araya, quite honestly, I'm not. Why didn't you just sleep in, for crying out_ _loud?"_ I answered inside my head.

"_But why? The birds are singing, the bees are buzzing, the sun is shining, and the whole wide world is awake for a brand new day!! ^-^"_

Now I really groaned. I really didn't want to hear Other-Me's version of a perfectly normal day.

"_Look, there are no bees, or birds, and there is a cloud in the sky. Now shut up."_

"_But Araya, today is the first day of the Academy! Shouldn't you be happy? I Am! Just think of all the new things we'll learn, and the techniques, and…"_

I just let Araya keep talking in my head and tried to shut her out. Really, having another psyche inside of you is hard to ignore. I was at the Academy building anyway. Pushing open the door, I walked into the building, and pulled a piece of paper out of my shuriken pouch. I looked at the room number written on the sheet, and headed towards the third room on my left.

"_And, OMG Araya!! We might be able to meet new people and gain new friends!! This would be an amazing experience! We've never had many friends, you know. If we did-"_

"_Shut up!! We're here already, and I don't want to deal with your meaningless chatter the whole day!"_

Araya fell silent. I could feel her hurt and disappointment, but I really didn't have time for her. I shoved open the door to find…a normal classroom.….That was disappointing. I was expecting something big, like maybe a huge spider to come at me or something. A couple of kids were already there, and I could feel their eyes on me as I walked over to my seat. One had pitch-black hair, and a blue top with white pants who wasn't even paying any attention to me. Not really surprising, but interesting enough to note.

I walked to the back of the classroom, and slumped down into the seat. Other kids started coming in, so I knew that I wasn't going to be the last one there. Most of the kids were my age, 11-12, so there was one way that I fit in. No one made any move to look at me, or even say hello, which made me sink into my seat even further. The teacher, Iruka-sensei, as it said on the paper, finally came in. His most noticeable feature was the scar that ran horizontal across his face. I stared at him for a while, then lost interest and turned to look at the kid nearest me. His dark brown hair was pulled up high in a ponytail, and he was already asleep and drooling. I smirked. This kid had the right idea. Wasn't too bad looking, either.

"Hello, everyone!! Welcome to your first day at the Ninja Academy! I am Umino Iruka, your sensei. Now, when I call your name, answer me for roll call."

He went through the first couple of names, going in alphabetical order by last names. The only thing is, I have no last name. I don't even know what it is. I don't really remember much of my past, and apparently no one cares enough to help me find out. Only one person was missing, a certain Namikaze Naoki. Iruka was about to start a lecture when…….

*BAM* *huff huff huff…..*

A girl with BRIGHT blue hair rushed into the room. I swear, if it was any more blue, it would glow and we wouldn't have any more use for the sun.

"Naoki! Where have you been? You aren't much like your sister, are you?" Iruka asked.

"No, I'm an individual!!" she retorted.

"Well, go to your seat. We're just about ready to start."

Naoki, as I now knew her, went over and reluctantly sat next to the black-haired kid I had seen before. Apparently, they knew each other, but didn't harbor any nice feelings towards the other. She threw a curious glance at me, catching me off guard. No one really noticed me....Interesting.

"_See? SEE???? We could be friends with her! She actually noticed our existence! Isn't that just absolutely wonderful!"_

"_Look, Araya, just because she looked at me doesn't me we're going to be best buddies. It was just a look. Jeez…."_

Iruka started speaking. "Ok, class, settle down. I'm going to speak to you about…"

Five minutes later, I started nodding off. His voice was just so…….tiring. Other-Araya stayed awake to listen to the lecture, she was so excited. Something about….chakra…..or something….oo, look, a bird! Out the window! Wow, it's yellow, or orange, or red… Hahahah it pooped on that guy's head…….What a loser…

"Araya!!! Wake up, sit up, and listen to me!!" Iruka's voice popped into my own thoughts.

"…huh? Did you say something?"

Other-Araya was scolding me.

"_See? You got us in trouble again! Why do you have to be so lazy!"_

"….Yes, I did. Pay Attention!" Iruka wasn't in the best mood.

"But I was!" I insisted. All eyes were on me, and I was starting to become a little uncomfortable.

"Fine. Give me a summary of what we have been talking about."

So I went into this really long word-for-word speech about the chakra system and how we use chakra, using Other-Araya's information that had now transferred into my memory banks. I did this for like 5 minutes, until Iruka couldn't take it anymore.

"That's enough, Araya!!"

"*Smirk* Told you I was paying attention, Iruka-sensei..."

Everyone laughed. I, for once, felt like them. I didn't know if I liked the feeling very much, it would be something I would have to get used to.

"If this is how insolent you really are, Araya, we are going to need some sort of understanding here. I do know that the Hokage made you a special case, but I have to question if his decision was right or not. Just because your father is-"

He stopped, and shook his head, apparently reminding himself not to go on. The other kids were looking around in confusion. I couldn't blame them. Like I said, I don't have much memory of my past. That includes my parents. I stared at Iruka coldly.

"Ok, that's enough for today, class. Remember, start practicing your maneuvering of chakra at home." Iruka quickly changed the subject. I moved from my dest with the rest of the class and started for the door when he added, "Except you, Araya. I need to talk to you."


	2. Lectures About Things I Already Know

Hi everyone, it's Fang. Araya's kind of......strange, huh? Don't worry, i'll explain her two halves in detail later. All you need to know right now is that there are two different....people...i guess you could say....in her. But hey, she can be nice if she wants to! T_T

Araya- "Not like i would want to."

.....thanks. Thanks a lot, Araya.

Well, enjoy.

* * *

"Except you, Araya. I need to talk to you."  
I sighed and headed toward him. Something told me this wasn't going to be good. I made my way out of my seat, heading towards his desk, when out of the blue, someone pushed me from behind. Hard. I started to fall, but thinking quickly, I threw a kick behind me and felt it connect with the guy's stomach. I smirked.

"OOF!" The person behind me grunted in pain. Ah, revenge is sweeeet….

I fell to the ground and looked behind me. Ohhh…..crap. It was the kid with the crazy yellow hair, and goggles. Ok, honestly, who in their right mind would think that yellow, green, blue, orange (and a lot of it) and white went together? Well, anyway, he was holding his gut and moaning. Serves him right.

"You don't have very good reflexes, don't you?" I asked the boy.

"That's not fair!! I had you!" he retorted, squinting up his eyes at me in anger.

I smirked.

"_Araya, that wasn't very nice!" _Other-Araya was yelling at me.

"_What are you talking about, he started it!" _

The guy behind Yellow-Headed Weakling sighed and helped me up. Hey….it was the black-haired mean-eyed kid who wasn't paying attention to me in the first place……interesting. I could tell he was as annoyed with The Weakling as I was.

"Hurry up, Araya!" Iruka was shouting now.

I sighed and nodded my thanks to Emo Kid (ok, I really don't know if he's emo, but come on, he hasn't smiled once since I got here). Then I **HURRIED UP** to Iruka. He motioned for me to sit down, and once all the other kids had left the room, he started.

"Don't worry about Naruto, he does that all the time," Iruka began.

" Oh….That's his name? Wait a second, I eat those in ramen…..Whatever, OK, that works."

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Look, I understand that you have two different psyches in you, but you don't have to act like everyone's your enemy."

"Not everyone! That kid who helped me up is cool, and you, and ummm….well………..there's umm…" I struggled to think of some more people.

"See what I mean? You need to be more open to people. Just Sasuke and I isn't enough." Iruka rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, so THAT'S his name! I wonder why people don't tell me things like that. Hint. Hint."

"If you had been paying attention during roll call, you would have known then, right? Oh, whatever. Let's get back on subject."

Me- "OK! How about that I AM reaching out and they're not responding? Hmmmmmm. Maybe THAT'S the answer!" I was getting mad about the way this was turing out, and I didn't care who knew.

Iruka looked down at the ground. "You're still upset about the Hokage making you a special case as a ninja."

"Well, it's not your fault," Iruka tried to console me.

"Well, everyone treats me like its my fault." I folded my arms across my chest.

"*Sigh* Well, just try to get along with people. Especially ones your own age, they will be your teammates someday."

I stood up from my seat, and ran towards the door, then turned and looked back at him.

"No, people need to get along with me."

I slammed the door shut.

Grabbing my bag where I had left it outside the classroom, I ran down the hallway towards the front door.

"_Araya…."_

"_What?!"_

"…_nothing."_

Jeez, if anyone should know how I relate to other people, it's her. I have to share a stupid body with her, anyway. Everyone's lives are so….perfect. Mine isn't. Apparently, none of them know what it's like to grow up with no parental supervision.

I hate this, I thought, as I was walking home….alone…as usual.

* * *

Sorry, this chapter was really short with a really long title.......my fault for being lazy. ^_^

-Fang


	3. Scary Psycopaths and Dead Birds

Hey guys, its Fang, What's up! Look, i actually posted quicker than last time!! ^_^ awesome! Oh yeah, there is quite a few other OCs in this fic, if you haven't noticed already..

Araya- "Why, thank you, Captain Obvious."

Shut up!!! Anyway, so far there is Naoki (Who is pretty big in this fic...u'll see) and Skai. Yes.

* * *

.................................................................ok. you can read now.

* * *

I was walking home…alone…as usual. Well, when you live alone, you REALLY live alone. But I wasn't lost in my thoughts enough to not notice the rustling in the trees above me. Ok…that is so not a bird, because it's big…and black….hm, this is hard.

"You know, you're not very good at keeping quiet." I called up into the branches.

A teenage girl about, I don't know, 17-18, jumped down right in front of me into a perfect crouch. She had long black hair but most of it was tied back into a low ponytail, with the rest covering her right eye. She was dressed all in black, and looked like she was going to mug me.

"Well, aren't you the clever one." She snarled.

I grinned, and twirled my hair. "Thank you, thank you very much."

"I didn't mean that as a compliment!" she yelled.

"Well, then, it was a very nice complaint." (See, Fang? I can be nice! Eat that one!)

The mysterious person frowned.

"Ok, smart one, what are you doing on your own, and what's your name?" The girl had straightened up, and was looking down on me. It's not really hard to do, I'm kinda short…..

"Well, I don't give my name to just anybody. Why are you even interested?"

"You're asking for a knuckle sandwich!" She drew her fist back, aiming for my nose.

Then she punched me so hard I went flying and smashed head first into a tree. Ouch. That sucked. (Jeez, what did I do?! Nothing! She just attacks me for no reason! T_T Everyone hates me….._)

"And don't even think of messing with Nara Skai again!" She stood over me again as I lay bleeding to death on the ground.

"(Through a bloody nose) Ha!! Tho dats you nameth!" I spoke as best I could.

"GRrrrrrrrr…. You little pipsqueak, I'll let you by easy this time, but watch out!!!" She leapt up into the trees, and off into who knows where, leaving me at the bottom of a tree trying to stop the bleeding coming out of my nose. I tried to stand up, but ended up back up against that tree. God, my head hurt.

"_OMG ARAYA, ARE WE OK?!?!?!?"_

"_Yeah, I think so. Now shut up, your voice is making my head hurt even more."_

I leaned against the tree, finally stopping the bleeding, even though I was covered in blood.

"Great. Just fricken great." I muttered to myself.

My predicament so far:

I have made two enemies: the Skai girl and the Naruto brat.

Iruka's mad at me.

No one well tell me who my damn parents are.

I have just been blasted into a tree.

Great. Just great. Finally, I was able to stagger home.

Fast-forward to Next Day!!! (Just go along with it, I do this a lot.)

I woke up the next morning with my head absolutely killing me. Not that it wasn't when I first hit it, but now it was just a pounding headache which just about kept me from thinking. Just great.

I had to head off to the Academy anyway, or Iruka-sensei would kill me. So, yeah. Not fun. But this time when I got to class, you wouldn't believe who I saw sitting in the back seat next to mine. Well, she had black hair, and a mean smirk on her face. Three guesses. Skai. Crap. Crap. And the only seat left was next to her. CRAP!!! The Naruto kid with his shock of bright yellow hair came in after me and as usual, started complaining to Iruka about there being only one seat left.

"Well, I'll let you have that seat, then!" Heck, I'll sit on the floor if it meant not sitting next to her. Naruto must have seen my aversion to her, and gave me an evil grin.

"No, you can take it," he smiled in a so-not-kind-way.

"O_o _ Dammit, Naruto!! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Araya, sit down, and shut up! Naruto, Come up here and do a demonstration of a transformation jutsu for egging her on! Everyone else is after him." Iruka-sensei must have been in a really crappy mood.

I slumped into the seat next to Skai, making sure to sit on the edge farthest from her. She gave me a sideways glare and the dropped her head into her arms. Naruto did some crappy imitation of the 3rd Hokage. Everyone laughed. Boring. Then Naoki (Blue hair!) did a better one (But still crappy) and Iruka acted like it was the best in the world. She is such a Goody goody twoshoes….bleck, this is getting even worse. Then Emo Kid (oh yeah, his name is Sasuke, I remember…) comes up and does one of Iruka. Man, this it getting REALLY boring. My turn came and went…And when I went back to my seat, I saw that Skai was still lying down on the desk. I stared at her for a while, and then reached out…….and poked her. No response. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. This is actually entertaining! Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Po-

An ice-like grip snatched my finger and twisted it up until it was at the point of breaking. Yep, there was Skai staring holes into my head with a look of absolute malice on her face. I gulped, trying to swallow the immense pain of my finger and my own 'holy crap what is she gonna do' feeling.

"What the HELL are you doing, you stupid brat?!" her voice was a whisper, but it drowned out even Iruka-sensei's boring lecture.

"Just making sure you were alive."

Ok, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say to someone who is on the verge of killing you in the classroom, but I didn't really have time to think, so don't judge me…..T_T. Anyway, Skai didn't seem pleased with that answer for me incessantly poking her, and twisted my finger up and up until I swear the bone was about to snap (Honestly, how does Iruka-sensei not see any of this? Well, he is Iruka-sensei, so I wouldn't put it past him, he has his hands full with Naruto) and drew back her other fist for a punch into my gut.

"Hey, sis, could you not beat the crap out of that girl?"

Skai turned around, and from my position behind her and trying not to squint from the pain, I could see it was that boy with the brown ponytail who was sleeping in class the other day.

"Who says I have to do what anyone tells me to, Shikamaru?!" Even so, her grip on my poor finger lessened a bit. But only a bit.

"Ugh, what a drag….Look, just because someone annoyed you doesn't mean they deserve to die. And look, you're only here for one day and then you can progress to chunin, right? Better not blow it." Shikamaru, as I now knew him as, explained.

Skai squeezed my finger once more, and then let go entirely. Her threatening fist aimed at my stomach relaxed, and throwing one more burning gaze at me, moved from her desk to the empty one that Shikamaru had occupied. Cradling my poor, abused finger (Seriously, she might have done permanent damage, I tell you!), I looked at Shikamaru, who was staring at Skai stealing his seat. I thought for a second he was going to go and try to get his seat back, but instead he just shrugged and took the place next to mine. I opened my mouth to talk to him, maybe thank him for possibly saving my life, but he just glanced once at me and *THUD* his head hit his arms and I swear, he fell asleep on impact. Dot. Dot. Dot. Well, whatever.

"And that's all the lecturing we are going to do today, class. Now follow me outside for some shuriken practice." Iruka-sensei had finished his lecture.

(A few minutes later)

We started doing some shuriken training, just as Iruka-sensei had said so. Isn't he just the fortune teller. We all had to hit some targets nailed to a wall, and Skai went first. When she finished hitting her targets, she just sat under a tree and fell asleep. Well, even though Skai and Shikamaru don't exactly look alike, they sure do act alike…. Well anyway, Naoki went over one her turn, took aim…and hit the tree dead on.

"…Uh, Naoki, sorry to point this out to you, but you're supposed to hit the wall." Iruka-sensei pointed out the obvious.

Naoki slapped her forehead.

"You know, at least I hit what I was aiming for….." she tried to explain. Then Emo Kid went up and hit the wall directly. Great, he's a goody twoshoes too. Then my turn. You know, hitting targets isn't exactly fun. Let's make it fun!!

"_Araya, you should just hit the targets just like everyone else!" _Other Araya was yelling in my head.

"_Oh come on, I just want some good times, ok?"_

I aimed up and hit some poor innocent birds while they were flying.

"BAM!! I hit moving targets! Eat that!" I threw my hands up in a victory pose.

Iruka-sensei looked at me like I was crazy. And then the birds fell dead at Iruka-sensei's feet. He glared at me.

"Uh, sorry about that….." I quickly made my way to where all the other people who finished were standing with Iruka-sensei still glaring into my brain.

* * *

Heh heh....silly Araya.....well, i'll try to post this weekend, don't really know if i'm going to get around to it, we're getting our Christmas tree tomorrow!! Happiness and Joy!!! ^_^ Wow, i wrote a lot on the Academy, huh? There's still a bit more to come, and then we get into the fun stuff!! cya!

- Fang


	4. Graduation and Complications

I'm sorry, but I didn't like how the original chapter was going, so I rewrote it.

Well, my buddy Naoki doesn't want me spending more time on my Academy life, so I am now being forced to the end of our graduation. Sorry for the inconvienced.

Naoki- "Hey, you spent 3 friking chapters on the Academy! I have a right to complain! Get gong with the stupid story line!"

…..Well, anyway, enjoy… oh yeah, this is now when the regular students are like, 12, I think. …yeah, this is probably the biggest time jump I'm gonna have here. Read. I'm done talking.

Well, today was Graduation Day. Woop-ie. Quite honestly, I didn't think much about this test as much as the other students did. But I can't say Araya was like me at all.

"_OMG What if we fail, Araya?"_

"_We won't. That's the point. I can do any of the techniques that they are probably going to ask us, so there's no problem."_

"_Oh, yes there is! I mean, what if they ask us to do an element jutsu? I know we can do a few water-"_  
_"Look, they didn't even go over that in class! It's not gonna happen, k? Now shut up."_

She did, but I could still feel her anxiety and worry about the test.

Later, at school, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were busy calling people out of the room to test. Since they were going in order by last name, I knew I had a while to wait, considering that I have no last name. What a no-brainer.

,,,

,,,

,,,an hour later…

"_ARAYA! THEY JUST CALLED OUR NAME! WHATAREWEGONNADO WHATARWEGONNADO?"_

"_Take the test."_

"_What? Oh no, oh no, we're going to fail!"_

I ignored her screaming inside my head and walked into the testing room. Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were both sitting at a table at one side of the room. The rest of it was empty.

"All right, Araya, to pass to the rank of Genin, we need you to complete one clone of yourself, all right?"

"_WHAT? That's it? I overreacted for nothing?"_

"…_..See, Araya? This isn't hard at all."_

..Alright, maybe we cheated a bit on the test. You see, it really is easier and a hell of a lot more effective if Araya and I split up. Yes, I mean split up. We can do that, but only for a limited amount of time, before she gets sucked back into me. I usually just take her conscious, shove it out of mine and into a clone that I produce. The clone then takes on real flesh and blood, just like a shadow clone, but it has a completely different consciousness than mine. It doesn't poof away like a shadow clone, but can get hurt like a normal person, and if I pull her back when she's hurt, I then take on any injuries that she had. I don't like that part. It's cheap. I don't mean to, but every time I make a clone, I instinctively shove her into it.

So of course that's what I did. And believe me, those few seconds of her out of my head and my thoughts just being my own were amazing. I love it when we do this.

"Good job, Araya, you pass. Please take a headband from this table and go back into the classroom."

Jeez, this test isn't personal at all, is it? Nope. I reluctantly pulled Araya back into my mind and discontinued the clone. Araya's thoughts once again filled my mind, and my happiness went out the window and into a random bluebird that got killed with a rock. Ok, maybe not all that, but that's what it felt like.

I grabbed a headband, black, I think, and headed back to the classroom. Most everyone else had one, even that lazy kid, Shikamaru, who I totally thought was NOT going to pass. I tied mine around my head.

"_YES! We did it, Araya! We are genin!"_

"_Yeah. You're right."_

For once, I didn't argue with her, but that was because I was sincerely happy that I had now become a ninja. Officially. It gave me a place in the world, a feeling that I wasn't just some bipolar freakazoid. It felt nice. Iruka-sensei walked back into the classroom, and told us we were dismissed. Just like that, the exam was over.

As I left the building, I noticed the yellow-haired kid…(_"Naruto!" _yelled Araya) sitting by himself on a swing. He didn't have a headband on at all, and he looked depressed.

"_Maybe he didn't pass…"_

"_Yeah, well, that's probably because of what a loser he is. Come on."_

"_Araya, why don't we talk to him, he looks so lonely…"_

"_NO! I don't have time for you, or for talking to a random loser who hasn't passed forever and a day. Now shut up!"_

I left the schoolyard, and headed over to Ichiraku Ramen to treat myself for passing. Then, it was homeward bound. _("OMG I LOVE THAT MOVIE! ^_^" "Shut up, Araya.")_

Graduation had finally qualified me as a genin. Awesome. I wasn't going to miss that Academy at all. Good-bye Academy, hello World!

"_Um, Araya, we have to go there to see the teams…"_

"_Dammit…"_

Yes. My freedom was still limited. I was back at that stupid school again, hearing Iruka call out names of teams. I sun further in my seat after each team. Let's see, I wouldn't have a problem with….well…yeah, I didn't want to be on a team with any of them.

"Team 7 is comprised of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Namikaze Naoki." Iruka droned. Good. I definently didn't' want those losers. Let's see, who is left…

"Team 8 is Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino."

Ok, Bug-Dude and Dog-Dude were with that girl.

"_Araya, there aren't many people left…"_

"_Just calm down, alright?"_

I didn't hear my name called with Team 9, and that last team was called.

"Team 10 will consist of Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, and Nara Shikamaru. Alright Class, we will have a short break, and then you will be introduced to your senseis."

Everyone started filing out of the classroom, except for me. I sat in my seat, stunned by Iruka's words. I wasn't called. That meant I wasn't part of a team.

"_Araya, what's going on? Why weren't we called? Is there something wrong?"_

Araya's voice shocked me out of my trance, and I shook my head to clear it. Iruka was still sitting at his desk.

"_I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind…"_

"_Araya, you don't have to be so harsh, we can do this civilly!"_

"_Screw Civil!"_

I shut her up as I made my way down to Iruka. I slammed my hands down on his desk, making him jump in his seat.

"If this is your idea of a practical joke, I can sure think of some better ones!" I snarled at him.

"Araya! I'm so-"

"Sorry? Excuse me, but I believe I passed your stupid graduation, and I believe I'm a genin. I don't get put on a team? This had better not be any more of that 'Special Case' shit!"

"_Araya! Calm down!"_

The other-me's soothing presence filled my mind, and calmed my temper down a few notches, and I proceeded to let Iruka get a word in.

"Araya, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to forget you. It's just that I was going by last name, and well, to be frank, you don't have one. I'm sorry, and I wasn't thinking."

I slumped down in the chair opposite from his desk, my anger spent.

"Some excuse. But still, I'm the only one left!"

"You are going to join a team. The sensei of Team 7 has agreed to take you on as well." He explained.

"So I'm just a tag-along. Wait a second, Team 7? That has-"

"Naruto, Sasuke, and Naoki." Iruka finished.

"Yeah! There's a blonde hyperactive freak, an emo Uchiha, and a neon blue-haired late chick! For all I know, they could be those tailed demons that you were talking about!"

Iruka looked a little shocked, but composed his face. I didn't bother wondering.

"Nevertheless, it's Team 7 or another year in the Academy. And you're already at genin level; you are already starting to learn healing as part of your curriculum. I don't want to have to send you back." He said.

"I don't even know why I'm learning healing; I don't even want to be a medic ninja."

"It's still am important skill, and you have potential at such a young age. Now, what do you say?" he waited for my answer. I let out my breath; there was only one choice.

"I'll join their stupid team." I stood to get up and away from him. I didn't bother to look behind when I heard him call my name, but just kept going until I reached the door to outside. Running up to a tree, I swung on the lowest branch and pulled myself up. I climbed up a bit more and found a place to sit. I leaned up against the trunk and closed my eyes. Other Araya finally opened up as soon as I was settled.

"_You didn't have to run off like that."_

"…"

"_Look, I'm not happy about this either, but it's out of our control. At least we're on a team, right?"_

"_Stop trying to make me feel better about this."_

"_Well, it's better than watching you mope in a tree all day. You should be used to this."_

Araya eventually sighed in my silence, and left me to our thoughts. The one thing I hated was that she could see my thoughts, and I hers. She could be so annoying, and once again, I wondered why the hell she existed.


	5. HotHeaded Introductions

Hey, everyone, Its Fang here. Sorry i haven't posted in so long, but Naoki said that if I didn't get started typing again she would kill one of my fictional kids, and I like my fictional kids. So here you are, Have at it!

Araya eventually sighed in my silence, and left me to our thoughts. The one thing I hated was that she could see my thoughts, and I hers. She could be so annoying, and once again, I wondered why the #!*% she existed.

"Hey, you up there!"

A voice snapped my out of my thoughts. I looked down from the tree to see that spiky-haired kid…Shikamaru, I think, looking up at me. His hands were stuck in his pockets, and he was shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"We're going in. You might want to hurry up."

"Oh, um…Thanks, I guess." I adjusted my sunglasses and leaped down from the tree. I landed on my feet right next to the boy, and he barely flinched. He began to walk away towards the Academy, and I ran to catch up. I slowed down next to him. He didn't look at me on our way in, but he didn't move away. I was intrigued. Through the darkness of the corner of my sunglasses, I glanced at his face again. Shikamaru wasn't too bad looking, actually pretty nice for a twelve year old. He wore his headband around his arm, and even as he walked, his eyes stared up at the skies. I was so engrossed in watching this boy that I didn't notice him looking at me until we were almost at the door. I felt my cheeks go red involuntarily, and hoped my sunglasses hid my shifting eyes to the ground. To hide what I was doing, I shoved open the door and walked through.

I tried to forget the incident as I opened the door to Iruka's classroom. Most of the students were already in there, so I quickly made my way through the crowd to my seat. The moment was forgotten.

One by one, in groups of threes, the other students left with their new jonin instructors. Soon, even Iruka left, leaving just me, Naruto, Sasuke, and Naoki. Of course, an awkward silence filled the room, except for Araya's thoughts mixing with my own. Naruto finally got bored and grabbed a chalkboard eraser and preceded to do something that made Sasuke start yelling at him. I closed my eyes and put my feet up on the desk for a nap.

"Hey, what's your name?"  
It was that blue-haired chick. I didn't open my eyes and hoped that she would just go away. She poked me in the forehead.

"Hey, you! Wake up!"

I lifted my head and opened my eyes behind my sunglasses.

"Jeez, what up, man?" I said, only a touch annoyed.

"What's your name? I'm Namikaze Naoki." The neon wonder sat on the desk next to me.

"I'm…Araya."

"Araya what?"  
"Just Araya. Nothing else."

"Well, nice to meet you!" Naoki smiled at me.

"_Wow, Araya, she seems really nice!"_

"_Well, she's….tolerable, I guess."_

(Hey, tolerable is pretty high up on my scale of liking. Don't judge me.)

"Hey, why are you here, anyway?" she continued.

"Oh, well, since I was the odd person out number-wise, they shoved me into some random team. It just happened to be yours."

"Wow. Well that sucks to be you."

I scoffed. "Is that really all you have to say to me?"  
"Well, what else were you expecting? A pity party?"

A yelp sounded across the room as Sasuke punched Naruto in the gut. Naruto flew into a wall. Naoki turned back to me.

"Look, just forget anything I said. Um….So why do you always wear sunglasses? Is it just for looks, or do you have some weird eye thing…"

I sat up on the desk.

"Why the #!*% do you want to #!*% know? That's like… asking why your hair is so blue!"  
"Well, you don't need to cuss at me! And you can't defy genetics!"

"Hey, I'll cuss as much as I want! And that genetics comment thing back at you! #!*% , you're so nosy!" I plopped back into my seat and shoved my glasses farther up my face with my middle finger, flipping her off. Naoki huffed.

"Come on! I was trying to be friendly, but apparently, you don't even want to bother!"

She got off the desk and started walking over to Sasuke, who was now witting silently across the room. Naruto was coming out of unconsciousness.

"Oh, sure, run off you your little lover-boy over there, like every other time!"  
I crossed my arms behind my head as she whipped around and marched back to me, mad as all #!*% .

"Who's my 'Lover-boy', you mean Sasuke?" She fired back at me. I nodded.

"Are you kidding? I don't ever like him! My sister makes me hang out with him!"

"Oh, yes, I'm sure that's the reason. You don't like him at all, no, not at all, so you hang out with him, the emo #!*% that he is."

That did it. Naoki grabbed the front of m shirt, hoisting me up a few inches off the ground.

(I'm a little on the short side. Not proud of it at all.)

She pulled back a punch, and I braced myself for it when the door to the classroom slid open, and a man finally walked through.

"Guys, guys, please. Don't start the violence, yet, alright?"  
Naoki looked at him and then unceremoniously dropped me onto the floor and gave him an angelic smile. I snarled a few choice words and wiped my face and clothes as I stood up. The intruder in the classroom was tall, with a regular jonin uniform on. He had white, spiky hair that swerved to the left, a mask that covered the lower part of his face, and a ninja headband covering his left eye. Yep, he almost qualified being stranger than the blue-haired freakazoid in front of me. Almost, but not quite.

"I'm your jonin instructor. Please meet me up on the roof, since I assume that you two have your differences settled?" he disappeared out the door, leaving us stunned in the classroom. Him gone, I pulled my hand back to sock Naoki in the head when his head came round the corner, eyeing me. I muttered a few curses under my breath. Naoki turned around questioningly, so I just gave a sheepish grin.

"Wow, Naoki, he's later than you ever are, and that's quite an accomplishment!"  
I dodged her hand and ran out to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke.

"…_.Well, you handled that well."_

"_Oh, shut it."_


	6. Snakes and Blackmail Material

Chapter 6, up and ready! This part seems small, bu it'll get bigger in later parts of the story. Stupid Naoki, and her blackmailing. Wow, two chapters in one day? That's an accomplishment for me!

On the roof, Mr. Jonin sensei was sitting on the railing overlooking the village waiting for us. Us four genin were looking at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Alright, then, I guess since you're all here, we can get to it." He said.

"Get to what?" Naruto asked.

"Your genin certification exam. Just for the record, I'm Hatake Kakashi, for future reference." He finished. "You?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"I'm Araya."  
"And I'm Namikaze Naoki."

Kakashi-sensei reached into his pocket and drew out four sheets of paper. He shot one of them at each of us. I opened mine up to find some sort of riddle.

"Find the answer to the riddle. Anyone who can't will be sent back to the Academy. Good luck!"

He made a hand sign, and poofed away in a puff of cloud. We looked at each other confuzzled for a few seconds, and then looked at our riddles.

This was mine.

-I can sizzle like bacon, I am made with an egg. I have plenty of backbone but lack a good leg. I peel layers like onions but still remain whole. What am I?

#!*% . #!*% #!*% #!*% #!*% #!*% #!*% . I knew what this was the moment I read it. A snake. God, why was mine a snake? I swear Kakashi was biased. I groaned and headed off in search of the slithery thing.

I have never…voluntarily looked for a snake. That's just crazy talk. But….Being a genin apparently means finding the little #!*% , so I just screwed the whole thing and went looking.

"_Araya, do you even know how to catch a snake?"_

"_Not in the slightest."_

I finally gave up actually looking and just started walking around the forest, enjoying myself. Naruto, Sasuke, and Naoki were probably doing good on their own. There were enough snakes in this forest I was bound to run into one sooner or later.

"SSSSSssss….."

I froze in my tracks. The branch in my face suddenly moved.

"Holy #!*% !" I yelled and jumped back. A brown moving stick became a brown moving snake. I fell flat on my butt behind me.

"Hey, Araya…."

It was Naoki, up in a tree above me. Double #!*% .

She leaned against the trunk of the tree, completely relaxed and apparently enjoying the whole scene.

"Whatcha doing?..."

"…Catching a snake…"

"Well, it seems like you're doing a wonderful job of it on your own."

"If you're asking if I Need help, you can shove it up your #!*% ."

"Oh, I finished mine, I just wanted to watch you."

"Well, thanks for the support, but I'm doing great on my own."

She jumped down from the tree.

"Ok, I'm gonna level with you. Kakashi is just testing whether we're all good with teamwork."

"Oh…..I knew that!"

"_You liar, you didn't even realize the point!"  
"Hey, you didn't either!"_

Naoki was walking toward the snake, and as calm as can be plucked the thing off the branch.

"Here, now you can officially say that I helped you."

She moved to hand me the creepy- #!*% animal, and I backed away at the same time.

"Can't you, you know, carry it for me?

"Why? It's your snake."

"Yeah but…well, hey! Just say you're helping me again!"  
"Wait….you're afraid of snakes?"

"Shut up, no, yeah, maybe, I'm not!"

Naoki smirked and stroked the snake in her hands in an almost evil fashion.

"Oh, so you are…"

" #!*% no, I'm not afraid! Why would I be? It's just a s-snake!"

Then how about I do this?" Naoki threw the snake into my face. I let out the girliest scream I've ever given in my life, and ran behind a tree to escape from the monster.

"Hah aha Hah! Oh My God you are! You are Afraid of them! This is priceless! Perfect blackmail!" Naoki laughed.

A voice sounded from behind us.

"Well, you two, have you figured Araya's out?" Kakashi-sensei stood behind us.

"Yes. It's a snake. Happy?" I yelled.

"Well, only if you show it to me."

"What? You want me to find that rotten, #!*% creature again? Not even if my life depended on it! This Genin something Exam is complete and total crap! What evil demon possessed you to come up with something so retarded! I hate snakes! But NO, you just had to give me that stupid riddle asking me to find one! Yeah, right I'm sure you were laughing that whole time, too! Why the-"

"Um, Araya? It's on you're sleeve."

The slippery feeling I just realized was now slithering up my arm, and I went ballistic.

"Oh my God it's here! Get it off get it off get it off! It's going to rip my head off and poison me and I'll die a horrible tragic death! Get it off!"

Naoki calmly walked over, and grabbed the snake off of me, once again petting it almost like she had some evil plan up her sleeve. I collapsed in relief, now that the cause of my impending doom was some feet away from me.

"Well, then… after that little scene, I think it's alright to say that you four genin officially pass!" Kakashi- sensei was smiling under his mask.

"Wait…Really? Awesome!" That whole snake incident was immediately thrust through one ear and out the other, put behind me and totally forgotten. Other Araya was cheering loudly inside my head.

"Most definently. Now go get some rest for tomorrow, since that is when you will have your first mission!"


	7. Adventures in Negotiation

hey Ppls, it's Fang. yay, now we are onto the pointless and meaningless Zabuza Saga! Have fun!

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Contrary to the stuff you read in books, first missions really suck. Especially when you're the one stuck babysitting a bunch of snot-nosed brats for eight hours straight because Naruto got tied to a tree, Naoki and Sasuke started arguing and never really stopped, and Kakashi-sensei had his head stuck inside one of his perverted Make-Out Paradise porno books. Next time I babysit, I knock the kids out for the duration of the mission.

It wasn't just babysitting. We were forced to clean trash from gutters, yard work, find red four-leafed clovers, and find garbage in the river, poke it with a stick, and toss it in a bag.

I swear, with the amount of trash in that #!*% river, I'm surprised we're not all dead from poisoning.

Well, anyway, I could definently see where Naruto was coming from on the whole sucky missions thing. It starts with the cat.

Our next worthless mission for the day was to find Tiger, a cat that was constantly running away from its fat tub of lard of an owner. Not that I blame him, of course. With me in his place, I would do the same thing.

"Positions locked on target?" came Kakashi's voice over the mike system.  
"Yeppers."

"Believe it!"  
"Yeah."

"Araya? You?"

"Uh….sure."

"Really?"

"Yah, totally! I can see the stupid thing!"

"Alright, just checking. On my mark…one…two…three!"

My three compatriots leapt into action, snagging poor, meowing Tiger. Ten seconds later, a squirming burlap bag was in Naruto's hands.

"Alright, good work everyone. Araya, where were YOU in all this?" Kakashi said through the mike.

"Eh." I replied.

"Come on, they're your missions too. You might want to help out."

"Well, maybe I would, if these missions didn't suck so badly!" I yelled the last part, to find my teammates scrabbling at their ears. A minute later, Naoki finally spoke up.

"Well, now that my eardrums have been blasted beyond repair, Note to Araya: Don't yell into the mikes!"  
"Well, excuse me, but they do suck!" I retorted.

"Look, guys, the rule is take what you can get. Now stop complaining, alright? Let's head back and turn the cat in."

That's just what we did, and ten minute later, we five were standing in front of the old man Third Hokage's desk, watching that poor cat get squeezed to death by his loving master. The Hokage was starting to drone on and on about the new mission we were being assigned, and I took that as my cue to zone out. Unfortunately, Naruto took that as his cue to complain.

"Why can't we do cool missions, like C or B ranked? We've been doing tons of small ones! I want one that's better!"

"Naruto, do you really want a lecture on the ranks and lists of missions and ninja, or can I just say no?" the Hokage replied. Naoki stepped forward.

"Let me handle it, Naruto. Hokage-sama, I feel that our skills as blossoming ninja can be better tested with higher ranking missions. If we are able to successfully accomplish said mission, we will become better assets to Konoha in upcoming times ahead. We cannot increase our skills with these mediocre tasks we are assigned to do. Please consider my request."

The Hokage looked at her for a minute, as did we.

"You pretty must just said what Naruto did…except more eloquently." I drawled. Naoki scowled at me.

"Well, since it seems that you really want to march into certain death as genin, you can try your hand at a c mission." The Hokage complied.

"Wow, really?" Naruto brightened up.

"Yes. I need you to escort this important individual to his home, the Village Hidden in the Waves. It is of imperative importance that you do not fail this mission!"

"Naruto started jumping and running around the room in pure ecstasy. Even I was a little excited.

"Bring him in!" The Third said, gesturing towards the door on my right. We turned, expecting a famous prince or daimyo and we saw… a drunken old man with a bottle of liquor hanging from his hand. He looked at us blearily, and then pointed at all of us.

"These? These are the people you sent to escort me? They're nothing but idiotic baby-faced brats! And the black-haired shrimp looks like she shouldn't even be old enough to be a ninja!"

I looked around. "Black-haired shrimp?" I looked at Sasuke, who was the tallest of us…and I got it.

"Why you mother #!*% son of a #!*% , I'm not short!" I lunged at him, but Kakashi caught the back of my shirt and held on to me.

"You're not short, Araya!" Naoki smiled. "You're just fun-size!"

"Yeah, she's vertically challenged!" Added Sasuke.

"Guys, stop tormenting Araya, and go on and get ready for the upcoming mission. You begged for it enough, so I'm counting on you."

Oh yeah. He's counting on us, and he's the higher rank? Yeah, I think Kakashi's going to end up bearing the brunt of the work in this sucky C-Mission.

The drunken man, who we later found out was named Tazuna, apparently needed to build a bridge from his village island to some main land…I kinda stopped listening at this point because I…well, honestly, I didn't care. Other-Araya soaked up the mission details with relish, though, so I didn't miss out on anything important.

After the briefing, Team 7 headed out the door into the bright, cheery sunlight that seemed so Ironic now. Kakashi did his usual disappearance trick to get away from us, but he did mention something about being at the village gates in two hours. Sasuke, Naoki and I split off from Naruto and went right, while he went left. Naoki nudged my arm.

"You know, I could have gotten a B mission for all this trouble."

I sighed. "Naoki, I sincerely doubt it. But this mission is better than babysitting, so- "

"You know, it's not much different actually. You just babysit an old drunk man instead of whining two-year olds."

I smacked her upside the head. "Wow, you definently have awesome powers in persuading, you got us an even worse mission than a D!"

She and Sasuke eventually got to their houses, (They live right next to each other…how messed up is that?) leaving me to my shack further down the road.

Another day had barely started, and I hated it already.

Negotiations Closed.


	8. Never Look Where You're Going

It didn't take long to pack what I needed for the long arduous mission, just an extra set of clothes and plenty of ninja tools. By the time I was done, I still had an hour and a half until noon. Might as well go get something to eat. I grabbed some money form my panda hat (Oh crap, forgot to pack that too) and headed over to Ichiraku Ramen, my favorite restaurant ever. I couldn't eat there all the time, it was kinda out of my price range, but I loved it anyway.

Ducking under the cloth sign (Ok, fine, I just walked under them. My head doesn't even touch the curtains.). Naruto and Iruka were just finishing up, and after a quick hello-goodbye, I was left alone to eat my delicious bowl of beef ramen. I don't chow down on it like Naruto, who can eat fifteen bowls in thirty minutes. I don't know how he can eat like that and not get fat.

Well, after slurping the last of the heavenly goodness down my throat, I paid Ayame and walked out of the ramen place, and of course, not looking where I was going, rammed into the first person I didn't see. We both landed hard on the pavement.

"What the-!" I head him cry out, and I opened my eyes to take away the focus from my now sore butt.

"Hey, do you mind watching where you're going?" Shikamaru asked, pushing himself off the ground.

"Sorry about that, but same to you!" I snapped back, wiping dust off my butt.

"Well, since you bumped into me first…eh, what a drag. It doesn't matter anyway." He rubbed the back of his head and yawned.

This guy really was weird.

He opened one eye and looked at me. "Araya, right?"

"Yep, that's me. "I answered, adjusting my sunglasses.

"Well, then I guess I'll see you round."

He and I began walking in the same direction.

"I thought you said see you round?" I smirked.

"Well, I have to meet Asuma-sensei for training…so troublesome. I don't even know if the rest of my team is gonna be there."

Only then did I realize the leaf headband around his arm. I'm such an idiot.

"Oh, so you made it to genin? Congrats, I guess."  
"What, you didn't?" He looked at me with genuine interest.

"No, I made it. I'm on Team 7, and I just forgot to wear my headband today." I said, shrugging. "I'm heading back home for it right now, and to get my #!*% for the next mission."  
Shikamaru looked at me in surprise.

"You're going on a mission out of the village? Those are usually reserved for chunin…"

"Naoki and Naruto's negotiations are to thank, I guess."

"Hmmm…I can only imagine how well that went. Oh, yeah, I was just wondering if you had seen my sister anywhere? My mom's going nuts, which just makes more trouble for me."

"Sister?"

"Yeah, Skai."

I froze. "You mean the cold-hearted murderous freakazoid? Oh, and b-t-dub, I'm pretty sure she's emo. No, actually, I haven't, and I hope never to see her again."

Shikamaru just stared at me. "Well, alright then, I was just checking."

I sputtered out the next few words in a hurry.

"Well, I mean – OMFG I shouldn't have said that stuff to your face, cause – you know, just punch me or something, cause I am a self-proclaimed idiot."

Shikamaru looked less than surprised at my outburst, but I just concentrated on my feet walking forward to the training ground and onward. Silence covered the conversation.

"_Good job, Araya. This guy isn't gonna want to talk to us ever again because of you and you're big fat mouth."_

"_I'm sorry, ok?"  
"This always happens! I think you should just let me do all the talking…"_

"_ #!*% no. You would just make everything worse."_

"So…you like ramen, huh?"

I looked up, shocked. This Shikamaru accepted my lame-o apology? I could barely keep a smile off my face as I responded.

" #!*% yeah I do. It's one of the best food groups in the world!"  
"Ramen's a food group?"  
"See, people just don't get it! Ramen has plenty of nutritional value."

"…You lost me…"

"I can think of fifty good nutritional values in ramen right now! Naruto wouldn't listen to me cause he was stuffing his face…"

The walk from there was actually kinda fun. Shikamaru didn't' complain if I rambled on and on about cats or ramen, even if he didn't pay attention to some of it. That didn't bother me at all. He didn't walk away, and he even laughed along with me at jokes or crazy stories. I was sad when the training fields came up on the right, and he left, a single hand raised in goodbye. I returned the gesture and headed that last bit to my house/shack.

Grabbing my bag, I took my headband off my kitchen table and tied it around my neck. I left the shack once again, but in a much better mood. This mission wasn't gonna be so bad after all.

Boy was I #!*% wrong.

* * *

Sorry this chapter was so short..i needed a good place to stop and this was as good as any. Chapter 9 should be up tomorrow or the day after. -Fang


	9. The Little Voice Inside My Head

wOOt! I said I would publish soon and I did! Enjoy the random conversations with myself...Wow, i created a messed-up character...Well, what can you do? -Fang

* * *

Of course, when I got to the village gates, there were only two people there: Naruto, looking more than excited, and Sasuke, who seemed more than the opposite. No Naoki, no late sensei. Absolutely fantastic.

"_Well, they'll be here soon, right? Naoki looked so excited when we left the Hokage's place!"_

"_She's always been late, there's not really a reason why that would change today…"_

I dropped my backpack near the wall and sat down on the grass, leaning against it. Naruto, I course, ran up to me and got in my face.

"Hey, Araya, Whatcha sitting down for? They're gonna be here any second!"

"Nope."

"Whaddaya mean, nope?"

"Look, Naoki's usually either thirty minutes late, or just coming in the nick of time. Kakashi-sensei obviously isn't much better. Think about it, Naruto. Naoki was always almost late every class in the Academy, and Kakashi-sensei made us wait three hours for our certicrapation thing. Yeah, I think they're late."  
"I'll be Ichiraku ramen on it."

"Deal!"

But it wasn't me who said 'deal'. Ok, in a weird way, it was. I mean, my body did pronounce the word, but it was Other-Araya who took control of my mouth. Naruto skipped away happily while I sat, my jaw in my hand, stunned.

"_What the #!*% did you just do?" I screamed in my mind._

"_What? Oh, the bet? I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself, I just knew I was going to win this one! And b-t-dub, I-"_

"_No, you idiot, I meant, how did you do that? How did you take control?"  
"Huh?"  
"You took my mouth! How? I always have control, you are supposed to be just part of my subconscious!"  
"Oh, that? How am I supposed to know? But it's awesome, huh! Wow, that just made my day!"_  
Araya sounded happier than a kid who realized he's got a lifetime supply of cake for no real reason. I was the other kid who had her lifetime supply of cake chucked in the gutter.

"_Well, it didn't make mine! How am I supposed to feel with you taking over without any pretense? This #!*% sucks! How come you never told me this before?"_

"_Well, I only did it once or twice before, when you were asleep…midnight snacks and all. I can't hold it for very long anyway, forty-five minutes seems to be the limit, so there's nothing to worry about!"_

Her voice got all pleading next. I hated where this seemed to go.

"_OMG Araya, please don't be mad! Please? I was gonna tell you soon, I swear! Oh, please, don't be mad, I won't do it again!"_

She was on the verge of tears. #!*% …I felt like such an idiot for making such a big deal out of it.

"_Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Just don't cry, ok? I'm not that mad. You just kinda freaked me out, ok?"  
""Sniff" Really? You sure?"_

"_Yeah. Look, just tell me if you're gonna do it next time, and it'll all be good."_

"_Really? You're not joking with me, right?"_

"_Yeah, I'm sure."_  
I second-thoughted it.

"_Just not too #!*% often, ok?"  
"Yeah! Definently!"_  
And there it was, Araya was back to normal again, her happy-go-lucky attitude back and on full blast. I smirked, trying to convince myself that everything was back to normal.

"Araya!" Naruto's voice came into my thoughts as he jumped up and down like an orange jack-in-the-box, pointing at the blue whirlwind followed by the senile old man-bridge-builder-person.

"I win! They were on time! You get to buy me ramen when we get back!"

"Kakashi-sensei isn't here, though, so I win too, sucker!" I shouted back, pleased and relieved when my mouth opened of my own volition. Naruto looked as if he was pondering this, while Naoki just glared on.

"True! Then…um…We'll treat each other! Yeah!"

I shook my head in amusement as I stood up from the ground, grabbing my bag and slinging it onto my shoulder.

"Sure, Naruto. That totally works."

I walked to joint the others. Naoki eyed me warily.

"What works?" She asked.

"Nothing." Naruto and I responded.

"I can't believe I'm going to be escorted by you brats! I might as well just sign my will right now." The slightly-less-drunk-Tazuna complained, tilting his hat back.

"Oh, please die now, do us all a favor so I don't have to do this #!*% mission." I sighed. "It's not that escorting fat old drunk dudes isn't fun, but I have some serious work to get done…" I glanced at Tazuna. "And yes, offense."

"Now, Now, Araya." I head a voice from right behind me, and let out another girly shriek as I froze in surprise. Kakashi stood right behind me, smiling.

"I don't think it bodes well for people who insult their clients…" he whispered, bending next to my ear. I scootched away.

"Wow, Araya, you voice range is that high? Didn't think you were a soprano!" Naoki laughed, just wanting to get a word in. I scowled at her.

"Yeah, he was standing behind you, like, the whole time…" Sasuke added in. I scowled at him next.

"How long is it gonna take to get there?" I complained.

"Oh, four to six hours, tops." Kakashi replied. I sighed as we finally started walking.

"This mission is a bunch of #!*% ." I grumbled.

"Language, Araya…" Kakashi sighed.

"Bullcrap?"

"No."

"How about B.S.?"

He shot me a withering look.

"B. C.?"  
"Araya…"

"Bullpoopie?"

"Dude, bullpoopie isn't a cuss word!"

"Well, bullpoopie is bullpoopie…"

"It sounds weird."

"Well I like it! Bullpoopie!"

"Would you all just shut up?"

"What am I going to do with these kids…."


	10. Why Didn't We Invent Cars

Wow, i must really feel motivated right now, back-to-back chapters! Somebody shoot me, i'm going insane! Anywho, we finally get to the fight, and some people do stuff and most of them do squat. Have at it! -Fang

* * *

Walking on a road that seems to go no where with the most unsociable groups of people ever imagined may seem fun at first, but don't be fooled at first sight. Sure, you have no reason to talk to these people, but take a closer look and see who they really are:

Specimen: Uzumaki Naruto

Appears: To be a happy kid, excited beyond all belief for words.

Really is: Waiting for Sasuke to say something so he can one up him and show how pwnsome he thinks he is.

Specimen: Uchiha Sasuke

Appears: To be calmly thinking of normal ninja things like missions and crap like that.

Really is: Totally thinking about Naoki, I swear, it's all over his face! Oh, and revenge-craplike-stuff.

Specimen: Tazuna

Appears: Drunk

Really is: Drunk

Specimen: Hatake Kakashi

Appears: Calm, cool, collected, and bored at the same time.

Really is: Who the #!*% knows what's going through his head? You can't even see his face!

Specimen: Namikaze Naoki

Appears: As if she's actually enjoying this trip. She's all smiles and "Ooooo look at the pretty bird!" What a load of #!*% .

Really is: Totally seeing the beginning of insanity working in her mind…I just know it. It's the hair.

Specimen: Araya

Appears: To have one of those clouds of doom and emoness crushing her as she plods along.

Really is: Arguing with Other-Araya who is the only one on this trip that actually bother talking.

So, kids, the moral of this scientific investigation is that don't go on missions that include a blue-haired wonder.

Anywho, we were walking along barely talking, well, except for Kakashi who was buy lecturing on the five Hidden Villages and the five Kage Rangers and crap like that that we already knew. Well, can't win all the battles, I guess.

I wish I could say that our mission was a peaceful one, only fighting off the occasional squirrel, and we returned home and went out for ramen, but that would be skipping extremely non-essential parts of the story, and we don't want to do that, now do we?

So the best place to star is when Kakshi-sensei got wrapped up in chains, and then torn to pieces. Yeah, that's perfect. There were two of them, both wearing breathing devices over their mouths, and apparently they were after Tazuna.

Now, I was all for letting them take care of him, but apparently, Rule # 76 in the mission handbook is "Don't get your client killed on purpose" so I had to fight them.

Naruto was scared out of his freaky orange pants, so he was no help. Naoki was standing back next to Tazuna looking at her nails. Big Help there. Sasuke was taking care of the taller one, so of course, the smaller one was lunging right at me with it's metal claw-hand thing raised to strike. I quickly wove handsigns.

Ishi Sochi no Jutsu : Stone Step Technique!"

I cast the genjutsu, leaving him stuck where his feet were. His eyes went up in surprise while I powered up my chakra for a water Jutsu. This guy was just too easy.

Unfortunately, I had to fix my confidence level because his arms were still free, and from his huge metal arm came a huge spiked metal chain. I dodged out of the way and sent out a water bullet jutsu full force, slamming him back into a tree. He didn't get up.

"_WOOT! Araya, you did it! That's Amazing! I get to try next time, 'kay?"_

I was about to explain to her why she wouldn't be trying next time when a hand settled on my shoulder and I stifled the urge to yelp like a little girl again.

"Good job, Araya. I would've helped, but it was more fun watching," Kakashi-sensei said, the other ninja in his grip in a headlock.

"_Or he was just too lazy…"_

"_True enough.."_

Kakashi-sensei was tying the two of them together on a tree, then turned to glare at Tazuna.

"I thought you said you didn't have any ninja after you…"

"Well, uhhh….Its a long story! I can explain…" Tazuna pleaded.

"_Hey, Araya, pat attention for me, will ya?"_

"_Sure…"_

While Other-Araya listened with unenthusiastic rapture, I walked over to Naoki who was busy looking up at the sky, apparently doing the intelligent thing and not listening.

"Hey, Naoki, I can see you're being totally useful today."

"I know, right? Guarding the bridge-builder sure is hard work!"  
"…Dude, you did nothing."

"Yah, well, I didn't wake up feeling especially productive today."

She glanced at Naruto.

"Hey look! Naruto's gotten stabbed to the bone!"

"No, I didn't! It's only a flesh wound!"  
Kakashi-sensei went to look at his hand.

"The wound's poisoned."

Naruto went ballistic. It was actually kinda funny, watching him bounce up and down like a kangaroo rat and scream at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, Araya, you want the story?"  
"Not really, probably some 'oh, I'm being repressed, my country's in shambles, not enough cake or dough' kinda crap."

"…Wow, I don't even need to tell you! ^-^"  
Meanwhile, Naruto was stabbing his hand with a kunai so I figured everything was normal.

"Hey, b-t-dub, How much longer till we get there?" I asked sweetly.  
Kakashi's voice showed a hint of impatience.

"Two hours. And Keep your eyes on alert, we'll probably run into upper-class ninja now."

He was bandaging Naruto's hand now. I still don't see how stabbing yourself gets rid of poison, but whatever works. Off we went again, paying no heed to the two baddies left behind tied to a tree. No, we had more important things to do, like finding a way to go two hours without ripping each other's heads off. Sasuke and Naoki were in the midst of a lover's quarrel, Naruto and I were arguing over whether or not he was a chicken and whetherhe would have to buy me ramen for saving his sorry #!*% , and Kakashi-sensei was lecturing Tazuna on his choice of mission styles.

Yes. It was just another reason of why road trips suck.


	11. Schematics of Bunnies

None of you people need to hear any more details about our mostly boring rest of the road trip. To make a long story short, we all did make it to the edge of the Fire Country, and met up with a small canoe/motorboat where we all squished in and were off. Obviously to hopefully everyone, (Well, I can't speak for Naruto, cause…well… he's Naruto…) we were almost there. Unfortunately, Tazuna didn't tell us that without using the motor to power us along, it was taking forever for the rower to simply row us there. I was cramped, tired, hungry, and bored.

"Are we there yet?"

"…no, Araya."  
"…How about now?"  
"Araya, I said no."

"…It has officially been fifty minutes. Now?"  
"OMG Araya, come on!" Naoki complained.

"We are near the bridge!" Tazuna finally sighed to shut us all up. Sure enough, coming through the clouds and mist surrounding us was a pretty humongous bridge.

It looked completely finished to me…Oh, wait, about two feet of the bridge was unfinished at the end. I swear, I could jump across it.

"You call that unfinished?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, we need to finish the last two-three feet, and paint a racing stripe on it. I was thinking pink."  
"And you needed an escort for this?" asked Naoki.

"Everyone, shut up! We're close to the Land of Waves! We don't want Gato's spies to catch us." The rower reprimanded us. We fell silent.

"_Gato?"  
"The oppressive money-obsessed dude."_

"_Ohhh…"  
_The boat sped under the bridge as we came into the Land of Waves. Houses popped out of the mist on either side, and the rower pulled the boat over to a dock and let us off before starting up his motor and running off.

"Cheapskate! Why couldn't he start the motor when we reached the bridge!" I asked as we walked along the dock.

"God, Araya, you really don't listen! We might've been spotted by Gato!" cried Naoki.

"Well, then we wouldn't have to search for him and his minions and let them come to us! Have the big battle then, and get rid of them and off home we go! Simple as that."

Everyone looked at me in surprise.

"Araya, the goal is to PROTECT Tazuna, and to do that we want to avoid as many conflicts as possible." Kakashi impatiently explained to me. I rolled my eyes. Naoki walked closer to me and whispered, "Good plan!"  
"Thank you! At least someone understands my logic!"  
"Well, no. Actually, that's probably one of the only intelligent things you've said yet.."

I raised my arm to smack her upside the head, but Araya went and took control before I could do anything. My arm lowered to my side.

"Well, I've learned never to respect the opinions of certain blue-headed persons in this world." I casually replied. Naoki whiled on me.

"It's genetics, Dammit!"  
"Suuure it is, you just keep saying that…"

Inside my head, I was like this.

"_Araya, what did I say about telling me first!"  
"There wasn't time! Violence is never the answer!"  
"She fucking insulted my face!"  
"Well, don't let it get to you!"  
_I cussed a bit more in my head at Araya, and only stopped after I had run out of the choice phrases I had. (Hey, I may cuss like a drunken sailor, but it doesn't mean that I say 'fuck' every other word. It doesn't have much finesse, you know?"  
"Over there!" Naruto's voice rang into my head, and I looked just in time to see him chuck a shuriken into a bush. After fifteen seconds of waiting, nothing really happened. I took the initiative and pushed into the bush to fine…an almost comatose/shocked white rabbit.

"OMFG Naruto, it was just a bunny!" I yelled at hi, holding the bunny by it's ears.

"Araya! You'll hurt the poor thing!" Naoki yelled back, wrenching the rabbit from me and cuddling it. Naruto was whimpering about a thousand sorrys and wanted to give it an "I'm soooooooo sorry hug which Naoki promptly refused.

"You could have damaged it badly! You don't know the first thing about rabbits!" Naoki complained. (Wow, Naoki's concerned? Heh- Heh, just you wait about ten to fifteen chapters…)

"Hey, I know plenty about rabbits!" I retorted.

"Oh really? Then what is usually a rabbit's day/night schedule?"

"Eat, sleep, have sex, hop, sex, sleep, eat, sex, sex, eat, sex, sleep-"

"Ok, you had 'sex' in there five times! That isn't it!"  
"Course it is! You've heard of the phrase 'multiply like rabbits'! It's gotta come from somewhere!"

While I was arguing the schematics of rabbits with Naoki, I noticed how…white the rabbit was. I'd only seen coats like that in pet stores. Wait a sec…white rabbit…in the wild….crap.

"Duck!" Kakashi-sensei cried, and we ducked fast, the bunny forgotten. A giant hunk of metal sailed right over our heads and chunked high into the trunk of a nearby tree. A taller man landed neatly onto the sword. We got off the ground and faced the newcomer in silence.

"…Well, that was a flashy entrance." I said.

"Araya…" Sasuke moaned.

"What? Just trying to lessen the tension.." I said. No one appreciates anything I do around here…

Anywho, this new guy was topless, which usually means hawt in my book, but his weird skin color and hair kinda turned me off. He wore bandages around the lower part of his face as a mask-like thing.

"I've come for the bridge-builder, Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye." The masked figure said, turning to face us. Now, I know about the Sharingan, enough to know that Kakashi-sensei wasn't Uchiha and therefore shouldn't have it. Of course, since it was turning into "Lets See How To Make Araya Wrong" day, when Kakashi lifted his headband, there, glowing red in his eye, was the Sharingan.

"Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist…Kids, assume the Manji battle formation around Tazuna!" Kakashi instructed us. We did so.

Demon of the Mist? Come on, if you're gonna have a nickname, at least use a reference to blood, death, or pain here!

Well, Anywho, Zabuza quickly transported to the water where he used a misting jutsu and disappeared. I focused my thoughts to the task ahead.

Note to self: It saves a lot of time to just kill the client beforehand.


	12. Doppelgangers Suck

Yo! Fang here. It took forever, but I have no excuse for not posting. Sorry Naoki...eh, here it is. Have at it.

* * *

Where was I? Oh yeah. We were fighting the Zabuza dude. Wow, I was totally spacing there…Ramen does that to me…

"Araya, just get with it!"

Sorry, sorry!

Well, anyway, all was silent for a moment. Dead silence. I could barely see anything in all this fog. Kakashi was in front of us all, making quick handsigns

"Don't worry, guys. Even if he gets me, I'll still protect you.. I will never let my comrades die!" Kakashi gave us one of his unseen smiles.

"Araya, that's so encouraging! Don't you think?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess, in a weird way. Still, if he's dead, it doesn't really help much, does it."

I didn't have much time to consider it any longer when right behind me, I heard the sound of steel and turned around to see Zabuza in the middle of us all.

"Holy sh-!"

I didn't get the chance to finis cussing because Kakashi was right there all of a sudden, shoving a kunai into Zabuza's stomach.

You know, if there were no doppelgangers at all, the fights would be a lot more productive and a lot shorter, but noooooooo, we have to prolong battles with meaningless bits of #!*% . Yes, Zabuza turned out to be a water doppelganger, and he melted like the Wicked Witch of the West on impact.

"…Who?"  
"GAH! Does no one watch movies here? Ugh, never mind."

As you can probably guess, the doppelganger fight went on forever and a day, each slicing the other in half countless times, until finally Kakashi had a kunai at Zabuza's throat, assuming he had finally gotten him this time.

"He got him!" yelled Naruto excitedly, clearly not getting the fact that if Kakashi screwed up, we were all gonna be puppy chow mix. (I swear, who knows what's in those little pellets! And the moist meat-filled stuff…the smell is enough to kill you on the spot). As I looked up from glaring at Naruto, Zabuza melted and what I assumed to be the real one was not behind him.

Kakashi turned around almost too late: Zabuza's sword zipped over his head, barely missing.

And if things couldn't possibly get worse, Kakashi was kicked a good 20 feet into the water. Zabuza laughed, and zipped over to him. His sword on his back, and a few handsigns later, Kakashi was completely trapped inside a ball of water.

Did I say things couldn't get any worse?...Heh heh…yeah, I totally lied.

Will Kakashi successfully trapped, Zabuza turned his attention to us now. With one hand, he created a water doppelganger (enough with the doppelgangers! What the #!*% is this battle?)

"Now…hand over the bridge builder, or I'll kill you one by one…"

I shoved Naruto in front of me.

"AUGH! Araya!"

"What? Him first…better than me!"

"Araya, this isn't a time for jokes! We need a plan!" yelled Naoki.

"A plan? Well, alright then Ms. Sit-And-Do-Absolutely-Nothing!"

"What? I do stuff! You just-"

All of a sudden, Naruto created…shadow doppelgangers.

…Really? Really? That's all we got? More clones we don't need?

Ugh…I'll save the doppelganger rant for later. Naruto and company rushed at Zabuza to do…something…how the #!*% am I supposed to know what his plan was? Anywho, anything that ran at him simply just got poofed away; no help there. Great. How the #!*% were we gonna get through this?

Obvious answer: Give him the drunk.

Unfortunately, I had a feeling that that wouldn't blow over too well with the other, so new plan! New plan, new plan, new plan…hmmm…yeah, this was going beautifully.

"I got one!" Araya yelled in my head.

"What are you- WOAH!" My complaint was cut off sharply as control of my body was jerked away without warning and I was shoved to the back of my consciousness. Other-Araya had full control now.

"Araya! What the #!*% are you doing?" I yelled.

"I want to do this myself!"

I watched helplessly as my arms pulled out two kunai out, and Araya ran straight at Zabuza. I could hear the other's voices yelling at me, but for once in my life I couldn't respond to them. I didn't like this feeling one bit.

"Araya, stop! You'll just get us killed!"  
"Just sit back and watch!"  
Araya threw the kunai at Zabuza, and then sprang into the air, landing a few meters behind him as she then chucked three shuriken at him. She jumped into the air again and made for an air shot, but apparently had not accounted for Zabuza leaping as soon as her kunai crashed into the shuriken. His fist was drawn back for a well-aimed blow, and smashed it into her stomach.

Araya went flying, obviously the breath had been knocked out of her, but I didn't feel any pain whatsoever. Well, she was in control now, I guess it only made sense. We were headed towards the water; definently not a good thing. I had to try it.

I pushed against the mental barriers that kept me and her separate, and they came lose in Araya' lack of concentration. I felt myself woosh back into my body as Araya swirled into the barrier once again. I felt the deep, thudding pain in my stomach and the lack of air in my lungs. I quickly took a great, painful breath of air before I hit the water and went under.

The water felt…reeeeaally nice…but I didn't have time for that now. As much as I like swimming, I had to stay down long enough for Naruto and Sasuke to do something about all this. No, I wasn't counting Naoki. She would probably make up some excuse and "protect the bridge builder"…gah, screw that. With my ease in water and my excellent lung capacity, I could stay down here three, maybe four minutes at the most.

I swam closer to Zabuza and Kakashi in the wonderball, actually thankful for the mist as it kept me hidden from view under the water's surface. And I waited.

"Araya, I'm so-"

"I'll deal with you later." I said sharply to her. One minute passed. Then two. I could start to feel my lungs straining, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I looked up at the water's surface to see a giant shadow shuriken whipping across the water aimed at Zabuza. I swam directly under Zabuza and pulled out another Kunai. If we couldn't take care of him ourselves, it looked like we would have to settle with freeing Kakashi-sensei.

Zabuza jumped over the shuriken and it poofed to become Naruto, flinging a kunai at Zabuza's arm. At the same time, I torpedoed myself out of the water, my lungs strained to the point of unbearable. I drove the kunai straight at Zabuza's face, and he stopped it by grabbing my wrist, letting go of his water trap jutsu at the same time. Zabuza twisted my wrist into an unnatural position and flung me onto the land. I skidded on the ground, narrowly avoiding trees. I sat up once I stopped, clutching my injured wrist as Kakashi climbed out of the water to finish off Zabuza. I smiled to myself; he could take it from here. I didn't feel like doing much else. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, Zabuza was pushed against a tree, kunai stabbed through his arms and legs. Kakashi was about to deliver the finishing blow. He never got the chance. Two weird weapons were fired from a high up tree, jabbed straight into Zabuza's neck. He fell to the ground, presumably on all and any accounts, dead.

I stood up dripping wet to see this newcomer. A person wearing a mask, and really odd clothes (Oh, who am I kidding, Everyone has weird clothes…) stood on a branch staring down at us.

Just #!*% great. Another freak to deal with.

* * *

Araya: Awesome! I can go on my doppelganger rant now! Ok, so clones suck, and-

Fang: Sorry.

Araya: What do you mean, sorry?

Fang: I'm cutting you off. This chapter is over, and I don't want you making it another 2000 words longer.

Araya: Why you son of a *BEEP* *BEEEEEEEEEEEP *BEEP* bull *BEEP*BALONEY! (Yah, I know i spelled that wrong, but it's almost ten, and i dont really care...)

(Personal bouncers drag Araya out of the writer's room)

BTDUB: Reviews and Flames are very much appreciated. Criticize the crap out of my work. TOtally fine with me.


End file.
